Adventures and Misadventures of a Science Fiction Writer

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Day 5: Jackson, WY to Boise, ID

If you’ve heard anything about our ‘supermoon’, you’ll appreciate why we had to get up in the middle of the night and stuff a pillow into one of the little windows just below the roof. Caroline said it was like trying to sleep with a flashlight shining in your eyes. After that, we managed to get some good sleep, and we showed up at breakfast just five minutes after it started. We were packed up and on the road before 0800. The shortest route to Boise would have obliged us to drive the Tetou pass again. Caroline hates its tight corners and drastic drop-offs. Also the runaway truck ramps are on the wrong side of the road, which is a little daunting if you plan to drive uphill. So we took a slightly longer route through the Snake River Canyon. The scenery was lovely, and we also benefitted because fuel economy improved due to lower speeds.

After that, we were going to spend most of the day’s drive on the interstate, so we counted trucks again. For once I got off to a strong lead, with odd trucks building a lead of more than 50 vehicles over basic semis. Closer to Boise, though, Caroline started catching up, and after watching it go back and forth for an hour or so, she actually beat me 641 to 607. Even at interstate speeds, our fuel economy was very good, so perhaps we had a tailwind.